Crafting Block !

[Urthdigger]

Err... you've actually experienced endgame, right? First off, the items you craft with peacock ore and such are BETTER than any drops you can get outside of the binding coil, which has restrictions on farming it as well as being rather difficult and requiring that you be well geared. The darklight armor, which can be bought with the same tomestones, is the same tier as the crafted armor, and they are functionally the same when HQ. However, the crafted gear can have materia attached to push it further, as well as pushing it in a desired direction for certain builds, such as stacking more VIT to survive area attacks.

The only things strictly better than what you can craft are upgraded artifact armor and hero's accessories from mythology tomestones (which take a long while to get), allagan drops from Binding Coil, and relic weapons. None of these can just be hopped into, and it doesn't hurt that these crafted things can be bought on the market boards.

Finally, I notice you seem to be looking primarily at the highest level crafts, the 2-star recipes for item level 70 items. Look just a little lower, at the milita/imperial items. The materials to make these are not insane to gather, and work as excellent pieces for players just entering endgame. One can easily use these weapons and armor to enter dungeons like Castrum Meridianum or Amdapor Keep to get the tomestones for their higher pieces. In addition, they are the highest level items that can feasibly be converted into materia (If you convert a vanya, darksteel, or gryphonskin item I would ask that your head be examined), and I believe the only sane way to get tier IV materia.

[OxTitan]

From my understanding and reading peoples' post, many people do not realize that those item level 70 crafted items can be used and resold back into the market. They do not bind since they cannot be spirit bonded because mobs are too low of a level to give them SB points. So you can buy them or make a HQ and have better stats than DL. Until you upgrade into the level 90 gear.

Edit:
Adding to why the crafted item level 70 is better to have. The item level 70 gear prices inflate with the cost of materia. So your investment now will pay you back later when they become more expensive because I don't see prices on grade IV materia ever decreasing.

DL gear you cannot trade back your tomes, but with crafted item level 70 gear you can at least resell it back for gil.

They bind in the coils

Use them for everything else except for coil runs.